


real subtle

by shymoon



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Oblivious Wynonna Earp, Originally Posted on Tumblr, had to bc shes a classic, lil nod to carmilla (web series), nicole goes to purgatory high
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25679212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shymoon/pseuds/shymoon
Summary: Anon: Hey, i really like the fic prompt line 20 and 76 also thinking wayhaught/romantic obviously hahaorWaverly just wants to kiss her superstar hockey player girlfriend in front of the whole school.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 11
Kudos: 282





	real subtle

**Author's Note:**

> [original post](https://allyouwannaparr.tumblr.com/post/625385994064216064/real-subtle)

Red.

All Waverly could focus on was the bit of red hair that poked out of the girl gliding around the rink in a sea of blue jerseys. She had just finished cheer practice and decided to stick around to watch Purgatory High’s girls’ hockey team practice. Waverly knew most of the girls on the team because Purgatory was such a small town and that meant pretty much everyone knew each other, but her attention was all on one particular player.

Nicole Haught.

She’d been the talk of the town from the moment she stepped foot in Purgatory a year ago, which was inevitable. After all, she was the new kid in a small town who’d arrived in the middle of the school year. And her striking red hair and insane hockey skills did not go unnoticed. Both earned her a nickname. Haught Shot.

She was like a ball of fire on the ice, speeding through her opponents. Yet, she never lost control of the puck gliding against her stick. It was truly a sight to see. A sight Waverly got to indulge in all alone in the bleachers. Practice was nearly over and most of the players had left the rink to shower and head home, but Nicole had the habit of staying behind for some time alone on the ice.

The janitors hated that because they had to stay later to maintain the ice after everyone left, but Waverly wasn’t one to complain. Not when she got to watch the tall athlete flex all the muscles in her body to shoot the puck into the net while skating in different directions.

“What are you still doing here?” Waverly was pulled out of her trance by the sound of her older sister arriving next to her and dumping her duffle bag on the seat next to her. “I thought I told you to wait for me in the hallway.” Wynonna had just put her phone away, so she didn’t notice Waverly drooling over the captain of the girls’ hockey team.

“Practice finished earlier, so I came to wait here instead of standing in the halls,” said Waverly. That wasn’t the real reason Waverly decided to wait in the bleachers, but Wynonna didn’t need to know that her little sister wanted Nicole Haught to pick her up with those strong arms of hers as she kissed her.

Wynonna had no trouble accepting that explanation as she shrugged and picked her bag up again after rolling her shoulders a few times. Just as Wynonna and Waverly were about to leave, Nicole appeared by the gate of the rink, seeming to be ready to call it a night as well. “Hey, Earp,” she called and both sisters turned around and the senior responded with a nod while the sophomore gave Nicole a shy ‘hey’.

“Right, sorry, forgot there were two of you. I should’ve said Earps,” Nicole offered with a half-smile.

“It’s alright Haught, no need for weird small talk. We were just about to leave,” Wynonna replied and smirked after seeing Nicole grow irritated by her.

“See you tomorrow, Earp.” Nicole rolled her eyes at the older sister, but then added in a gentler tone, “And see you around, Waverly.”

The sisters bid their goodbyes and finally left. Once they were in Wynonna’s car, Waverly smacked her older sister’s arm. “Do really have to annoy her all the time?”

“What?” Wynonna looked at Waverly, acting like she had done nothing wrong, but Waverly wasn’t having any of it. She kept up her semi-glare. “Come on, I’m just having a bit of fun. Dad’s pretty much forced me into hockey. And Haught’s… well, a hotshot. She’s the youngest captain Purgatory High has ever had. So, she needs to be humbled from time to time. Wouldn’t want her to become an arrogant asshole like a certain ex of yours now, do we?”

“She’s not like him,” Waverly said, but quickly corrected herself. “I mean, she doesn’t seem like that type of person.

“Are you and Haught BFFs now?” Wynonna snorted. With her eyes on the road, she couldn’t see Waverly trying her best to fight off the blush that was spreading across her cheeks.

“Just be nice, won’t you?”

“That’s your thing, babygirl,” Wynonna said, but seeing her little sister maintaining that stern expression of hers, she finally gave in. “Fine, whatever. I’ll be… polite. I don’t know why you’re being so insistent. I didn’t even know you and Haught were friends.”

“We’re not,” Waverly replied. Again, she wasn’t completely telling the truth, but if she were to describe what she and Nicole were, she wouldn’t use ‘friend’.

When Waverly snuck out of the house later on, she was certain that she and Nicole could never be described as just friends. Not when they were making out in the junior’s car parked behind the homestead, hidden behind some trees.

Being in a secret relationship was the last thing Waverly expected when her younger self thought about high school. In her fantasy, she would be an excellent student, probably highly involved in student life and maybe being in a happy relationship that everyone would be aware of. Firstly, because it was Purgatory, and secondly, because that was just how high school usually worked.

Most of it came true. Waverly Earp was known as a top student that many approached to have her tutor them. She was also part of the cheerleading squad ever since her freshman year and she was in various clubs here and there. Finally, there was that relationship she was in last year. The whole school knew about them, but Waverly didn’t qualify her first relationship that didn’t even last her whole freshman year as a happy one.

This one though, with Nicole. God, Waverly had never thought she could ever feel such a level of pure bliss around another person. Except maybe with her sisters during that one Christmas where she, Wynonna and Willa didn’t fight. And looked how that turned out. Willa had moved out as soon as she turned 18, leaving Wynonna and Waverly to live with their aunt Gus and uncle Curtis (who then passed away a short while after they’d moved in).

So, Waverly didn’t want to ruin her relationship with Nicole. The best solution she could come up with was to keep it lowkey, and by that, she meant to keep it private so that no one’s unwanted opinions would be heard, and no whispered rumours would torment them.

It was easy in the beginning, and God was it exciting. They snuck around in the halls, with Nicole pulling Waverly into an empty classroom when she knew everyone was too busy heading to the cafeteria for lunch. They would plan to have secret meetings in the bathroom that no student ever went in because of how far away it was from most classrooms. On days where Nicole didn’t have practice and Waverly did, the older girl would wait around for the cheerleader to finish just so she could say goodbye.

Being in a somewhat secret relationship did have its hardships though. It went from small things like not being to hold hands while walking down the halls to not being able to go hang out at each other’s houses out of fear of being caught by Wynonna or Chrissy, Nicole’s neighbour/Waverly’s friend. Sometimes, Waverly just wanted to yell to everyone that she had somehow gotten lucky enough to date the most wonderful girl in the world, but she couldn’t.

It wasn’t like they established that that was forbidden per se. They agreed to be discrete and not put their relationship on display, but they also agreed that at some point down the line, they wouldn’t hide anymore. They just didn’t know when or how.

“Hello to you too, Earp,” Nicole said once they pulled away from their heated kiss.

“Don’t you call my sister that?” Waverly pulled a face.

“Fine, fine. Hi, cutie.” The captain held the younger girl’s hands up to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

“Hi,” Waverly replied with a shy smile. “I missed you. I can’t believe I only saw you once today and it was from the bleachers.”

“I know, I’m sorry I couldn’t come meet you before practice. Coach called me in for an emergency meeting for tomorrow’s game.” Nicole kissed her as an attempt to wipe that pout off Waverly’s lips. “I missed you too, but we’re together now. So, no more dwelling on sad stuff, yeah?” As Waverly nodded, Nicole pulled out two burgers (vegan of course), fries and a smoothie from a take-out bag.

“Nic, it’s literally midnight.” Waverly pointed out.

“Perfect for a midnight snack then,” Nicole answered with a wink.

“You have the first game of the final tournament tomorrow,” Waverly added, no malice in her voice. She knew that Nicole wasn’t necessarily on a diet or anything, but being a dedicated student-athlete, she rarely ever allowed herself to eat junk food, especially not before game days.

“I find it adorable that you worry about me, but trust me, we’ve got this in the bag. We’ve beaten Silas High so many times.”

“Cocky now, aren’t we?” Waverly teased with an amused smile.

“It’s not cocky if it’s true.” Nicole shrugged and earned herself a playful shove from the brunette.

Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Purgatory High’s Blue Devils were torching Silas High’s Anglers. The waves of blue in the bleachers were going wild over their own Haught Shot managing to dodge nearly every opponent who had come for her, and scoring or assisting to score multiple goals. Waverly, herself, was probably one of the loudest in the crowd, supporting both her sister and her girlfriend.

Although, she couldn’t help but want to be all alone watching Nicole be the glorious hockey player she was. She knew it was illogical, considering that she was at a high school hockey game and a major point of it was to have a crowd cheering for their team, but if Waverly had it her way, she would be the sole audience member present just so she could profess to everyone how proud of her girlfriend she was. And as Waverly watched Nicole score one last goal before the horn announced the end of the game, all she wanted to do was kiss her superstar of a girlfriend in front of the whole school.

Waverly didn’t know what made her stand up and walk down the bleachers with intention. Whether it was the months of anticipation or the adrenaline that was coursing in her veins from watching her girlfriend crushing it on the ice, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that Waverly was now at the gate of the rink, having last-minute doubts.

She didn’t have much time to think about whether or not she was going to go through with her plan as Nicole caught sight of her and broke away from her teammates to skate towards her. Seeing the redhead take off her helmet as she reached her helped Waverly make up her mind.

“Hey—” Nicole started, but never got the end of that sentence out of her mouth as Waverly leaned up on her tippy toes to grab her face and captured Nicole’s lips with her own. She had a fleeting thought about how sweaty Nicole’s face was, but she didn’t care. Waverly was just wrapped up in a blanket of joy.

“Do you even know what subtle means?” Nicole’s voice carried no malice. She grinned and kept her eyes on Waverly, completely ignoring their classmates surrounding them.

“Subtlety is overrated,” Waverly replied before kissing her again.

By the time things wrapped up and a group of teens had invaded the Earp homestead at Wynonna’s after-game party, news had gotten around, and everyone knew about Nicole and Waverly’s relationship. Well, nearly everyone.

“I mean, it could be worse.” Wynonna shrugged. “My sister could be dating Haught Shot.” Mercedes stared at Wynonna with an exasperated expression.

“What?” The brunette tilted her head in confusion. Mercedes tried to communicate with her using only her face and somehow, a few seconds later, it was almost like there was a light bulb that turned on in Wynonna’s head. “Wait a minute! They’re dating, aren’t they?”

Glancing over to the bottom of the staircase, Wynonna could see Waverly sitting on one of the steps next to Nicole as they chatted with their noses almost touching. Instinctively, Wynonna wanted to warn Nicole to not break her sister’s heart. But she knew deep down that the junior would never do such a thing, and Wynonna was definitely too tired to come up with an intimidating speech anyway. So, as she observed the couple just a while longer, Wynonna decided that she wasn’t going to follow Waverly’s advice. If Haught was going to date her sister, Wynonna was going to annoy the hell out of Nicole.

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hauntingfletch) or [tumblr](https://allyouwannaparr.tumblr.com/)


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